The Dark Side of Pokemon Episode 1
by Ayem
Summary: This is my first fanfic ever... I'd like crits, if you see how I could improve. It's Pokemon from the Pokemon's view. Set in Sinnoh. I don't like this story too much. It jumps in too fast. Shall continue with series. Pokemon belongs to GamefreakNintendo.


Once the sun rose, it was dangerous out there. For most, sunrise was a pleasant event, like many other of the world's phenomena. For a Pokémon on the other hand, sunrise meant peril, to put it lightly.

Creeping, not playing. Never go out in the open. Above all, Pokémon could NEVER go near humans.

At least that was what his mother told him.

The young Shinx looked dreamily outside at the sea of flowers from between the huge tree trunks that hid him from view. They danced softly in the breeze, and he could imagine them tickling his feet if he were to run through them. The sun had just risen, and there was a crisp, cool air about. The dew sparkled... the clouds were so pretty... the flowers looked so soft... but no!

His parents had warned him about humans. His mother would rarely speak of them she was so terrified, and his father would recount awful stories that caused him to have nightmares. They told him that humans could be around in open areas, and to always stay in the shelter the trees provided. But were humans really all that bad?

He looked left and right from the corners of his round eyes. No humans that way... of the other. The coast looked clear as day. With a flick of his star tipped tail, he began sneaking away and into the...

'SON! What did your mother JUST talk to you about the very night before?!'

The Shinx had come as close to the flowers as touching them when he was pulled back by the dark ruff of his neck back into the shadows of the forest. The next thing he knew, the meadow of flowers was out of view as he was dragged back deeper and deeper into the trees. He gently flopped on the dirt as a large, dark blue Luxray released his grip. The Shinx peered nervously at his father, who's features were narrowed with anger.

A moment of silence preceded the long hard sigh the Luxray gave.

'What's the point of warning you?' He began. 'Do you think the stories we tell you before you sleep are for fun? Do you think we enjoy describing the horrors of the world of humans? We do it to entertain you?!' A noticeable growl became present in his voice. He sparked with anger, flashes of yellow electricity clinging to his fur.

The Shinx braced himself for a scolding, but the Luxray was able to contain his anger, and knelt down to his son's level. 'We tell you those stories because your mother and I love you. We don't know what we'd do if you were taken away from us.' The Luxray gave him a small, static lick on the cheek before picking him up again, this time gently and carrying him home.

It's a little known fact that Pokémon DO have their own language. Domesticated Pokémon frequently say their own name because it's one of the few words they hear above all others. But, in reality, Pokémon naturally have very colourful linguistic skills... As mother Luxray clearly exhibited to her son when he was brought back home.

'I know...' Was all the Shinx felt confident enough to say after every lesson about humans, and the danger they posed to Pokémon.

'And another thing!' mother Luxray screeched. 'Going into pink and yellow flowers? And you're _blue_?! You'd have stuck out like a trodden on paw!'

'I know...' The Shinx said wearily for the tenth time, avoiding his parents' stare and choosing instead to sit and focus on his claws.

'And, one more thing. No more hunt for you. You're staying here while your father and I go off.'

'I know-what?!' The Shinx had been paying little attention until the hunt was mentioned. His claws suddenly became a lot less interesting. 'No, no! You can't do that!' He moaned, shooting up at once. 'I need to learn! I need to understand how to fend for myself!'

'Nice try...' His father smirked, stretching up and strolling away slowly. 'But we don't know if you're quite capable after today's performance.'

Mother Luxray followed suit, wandering after him.

'Come on, please!' The Shinx begged, clawing at his parents flanks. 'I'll stay close, out of the way, anything you want!'

But his parents knew better than to start another debate, and knew _he_ knew better than to leave home after a talk that exhausting.

At least they thought they knew... the Shinx watched carefully as his parents' blue pelt melted gently into the pale bark. He wrinkled his nose as he said allowed: 'Not capable... I'll show them.'

Another small fact, not little know, but often 'forgotten', is that Pokémon need to eat. And poffins don't come 'round as often as they do in the cities. That nice little Pikachu you see playing in the garden could be Charizard's meal tomorrow. And Luxrays are no different. So as father and mother Luxray emerged from the trees, the flock of Murkrows couldn't have been more welcomed by the hungry couple. The cloud of bird Pokémon blocked the sun as they flew overhead, descending gently in unison to the flower field that the Shinx had been so desperate to dash through.

Father Luxray noticed the problem at once. It was board daylight, they were in the middle of a flower garden, and they were midnight-blue. A quick nod from each other was the only communication they required to know what was going on.

The Murkrows continued to forage between the flora, oblivious to the Luxrays who were hiding themselves at the edge of the forest waiting for one Murkrow to stray far enough from the group. If they'd paid enough attention, they would have known to stay far away from the four piercing yellow eyes staring at them from the darkness.

Everything seemed to be in order, and things couldn't have been going better when a few Murkrow started waddling over to the Luxrays' hiding place. Father Luxray was preparing himself to pounce... but something didn't seem right. Why were some of the Murkrow in the distance flying off like that? And so fast, too? The wave of panic was spreading from the far reaches of the meadow until with a flurry of feathers, Murkrow were taking off everywhere! Father Luxray ducked as one narrowly missed his head, and bolted about the treetops behind him.

'What's going on?' he heard his partner scream from somewhere.

The answer soon made itself clear as the Murkrow scattered away. Father Luxray squinted to see four upright figures rushing towards them in the distance.

'Humans!' He screamed with a combination of fear and disgust. On hearing the word, Mother Luxray began to bolt, followed closely by her husband.

But the two Luxray soon stopped dead. Scurrying just beside them was their son. But he wasn't running from the humans, he was running_ towards_ them!

'Son...? Son!' Father Luxray called out as the flash of blue whizzed past his feet.

'See, Dad?' The tiny Shinx called out as he clambered over the huge tree-roots. 'I'll show you how much of a good hunter I am!'

The Luxray couple had begun sprinting after him before he could finish the sentence, but they were already too close to the flower meadow to stop him. The Shinx burst from the bushes and into the flowers, scurrying through them, oblivious of the danger.

It wasn't the Shinx that had caught the people's attention. He was far too small to be noticed in all the commotion. However, two large Luxray bursting dramatically from the dark forest in true movie style... that was slightly more noticeable. The human's heads instantly turned and saw them. The two Luxray didn't have time to see the human's Pokéballs fly from their hands, and only noticed when the ear-shattering screech of a Pokémon tore at the air. A very large shadow loomed over them in the midday sun. They'd never seen something so terrifying, and had no idea what it was, nor what it could do. A giant blue worm... with a face so frightening the two Luxray literally froze in their tracks.

By now, the Shinx had figured things were not as easy as he pictured, and was running and screaming towards his parents. 'Mother!' he cried as he rushed towards them.

He was so close to his mother, but out of nowhere, it seemed, a Pokéball shot between them, hitting the Shinx square in the nose. His parents watched in horror as their little boy was sucked into something a quarter the size of himself. Before they had time to register what was happening, the nearest human had snatched up the ball and pocketed it.

Instinct had then kicked in. Without warning for any of them, they both lunged at the vile creatures who had taken their son away.

'Ahhh! Getitoff!' One of the men screamed as he was flattened into the flowers by one of the Luxray. 'Gyarados, help! Use water gun!' Father Luxray couldn't understand human speech, but he sure felt the water charge into the back of his spine like a train. The intense water pressure threw him off his victim, and into the flower beds below.

'Good work, Gyarados!' The same voice cheered. 'Now hit it with your confuse ray!' Cobalt was so dazed already when the second attack came he was almost knocked cold. The voices around him were discoloured, and he was almost blacking out. His last thought were: 'Where's my Son? What happened to my dear lover? Are they alright?' He only just felt the Pokéball hit him, before he was sucked away into darkness.

Sleeping was the closest way to describe the sensation the male Luxray felt while being in the Pokéball. Completely dark, with only your thoughts. There was no physical feeling, just like being paralysed. The Luxray was terrified, stuck motionless in a void and he'd lost track of how much time he'd spent locked away. While suspended in nothing, he tried gathering his thoughts. What had just happened? He'd almost forgotten. They were... hunting. Humans were there. And.. they had brought a monster with them. What next... there was a fight of some sort. He'd ended up here. Wait – what about his son? His wife? Were they alright? Where were they? He tried to call out, scream in frustration, but he had no physical body to scream out with.

_Let me out of here..._ he would stream the words around in his mind over and over. _Let me out let me out let me out..._

A fair amount of time passed before the Luxray became aware of a tingling sensation in his... toes? Was it his toes? It felt like years he'd been trapped, and he'd forgotten if he even had a body. The feeling spread throughout him, then blinding light flashed in his eyes. His muscles aching, he forced his legs to hold him up as he lifted himself off the ground.

Where was he? The first thing he noticed was that he was standing over grass. Quite a change from the flowers he was so used to. Sunny... it was day. Was it the same day he's been attacked? He had no idea.

He decided to let his troubles fly away and simply stand there, motionless. He didn't know what was about to come, and the few seconds he savoured before someone spoke behind him were bliss.

'Luxray! Use thunderbolt!'

What? Thunderbolt? The Luxray heard the word, but he couldn't recognize it as any word he knew. He lifted his head, turning to see the human who'd cause him so much grief. He wanted nothing more than to dig his claws seep into the pale skin and watch whatever it was inside pour out. He wanted to cause pain to the person who'd split his family.

'Luxray... _Thunderbolt._' The squeaky voice said patronisingly.

The Luxray stared at the person talking to him. What was going on?

'I'll count that as skipping a turn!' Another voice said. The Luxray snapped his head around. Another human! He growled menacingly.

'Ponyta! Use quick attack!' The other human said. The Luxray had been so focused on the humans he hadn't noticed the fiery horse charging towards him until it was too late. The Ponyta crushed its hooves into Cobalt's chest, knocking him to the ground. He couldn't breathe! The impact had knocked the wind right out of him, and he was now in terrible pain... he was already tired from the fight he had earlier, and now this? He had known humans were dangerous because they captured Pokémon... but never in his wildest dreams could he have pictured this.

'Thunderbolt, thunderbolt!' The boy nagging at him cried. 'What is wrong with you?!'

The commands were distant to the Luxray as well as incomprehensible. The Ponyta opposite him stood obediently in front of its human, waiting for commands. It's eyes held no emotion, staring blankly at him. What was this other Pokémon doing? Why was it listening to the barbaric commands?

Now that the Luxray thought about it, it was either the Ponyta or himself. He had no doubt that one of them was going to go down. He stood and braced himself. He was almost was about to retaliate when...

_Why?_ Said a little voice at the back of his head. _What's the point of attacking?_

That creature seemed to be in the same predicament as he was. Being forced to fight at the hands of a human. Attacking back would make him no better than the humans.

'Thunderbolt! Thunderbolt! Thunderbolt!' The young human behind him was now jumping up and down screaming. 'Why won't you fight?! Thunder the Ponyta for goodness sake!'

The Luxray had had just about enough of this. He could stay and fight or he could bear it and get pulverized. Or...

The Luxray turned his head to his human, yellow eyes glaring. He bared his teeth, showing all the sharp, pointy ones his mouth contained. He sprung off his back legs and pounced right onto the human.

'AHHHH! HELP! Someone get it off!'

The Luxray didn't hold back...he was all out from claws to fangs, trying desperately to make his earlier daydream a reality.

'I think I won!' The other person said excitedly above all the chaos. The human the Luxray was literally trying to tear apart didn't seem to notice.

'Luxray, come back!' The cowering boy said.

The Luxray saw it at once... a Pokéball. No... Not again. He'd rather be forced into fight than one of those! He quickly backed off, letting the boy stand.

'There's something wrong with this Pokémon...' The young human said as he lifted the now activated Pokéball The Luxray struggled to escape its pull.

'Perhaps you should get it checked out?' The other human's fading voice suggested.

'Yeah, I'll see the Professor when I can.'

The Luxray was enveloped by the darkness once more.

'Yes there definitely would be something wrong...' A rasping voice from nowhere said. It was the first time the Luxray had heard human speech after spending an even longer time in the Pokéball than he did before. He began materializing further to the sound of : 'I don't know what to do, Professor Rowan! He never belonged to anyone else beforehand.'

Things came into focus for him as his eyes appeared, his tail, now solid, twitched threateningly. He was surrounded by people this time... the boy who he tried to kill, and a whole host of people dressed in white. They trotted around the white, glassy room quietly minding their own business. Most of the people looked fairly similar in their white coats, but one in particular of those dressed in white stood out, as his wife had always said, like a trodden on paw.

No... that wasn't a sinister enough way to describe the aura he felt around the man. On the outside he looked calm, kind. His old looking greying hair and beard really did disguise the evil he could feel emanating from him with a grandfatherly figure.

The Luxray stared at him. Professor Rowan returned the favour. Something unsaid went on between them right there and then. For a moment, the Luxray forgot about the rest of the universe and had his focus exclusively on the man standing in front of him.

The tension was broken as Professor Rowan spoke again. 'You were right to bring him to me. Something is wrong.' He said. 'May I also have the Pokéball?'

'Why?' The boy demanded, seeming reluctant to give it up.

'The problem could lie within the Pokéball. I'll give it back to you in a few minutes if all's well.'

The boy brought the ball from his pocket and dropped it into Professor Rowan's open palm, who then carried the ball to a machine just across the room from where the Luxray sat quietly. He began fiddling with some dials and knobs, peering up occasionally to read the notes on the computer screen.

_Their backs are turned..._ The Luxray thought deviously, as the boy followed Professor Rowan to the computer. He coiled his legs, ready to pounce, clawing at the slippery white linoleum he was stationed on. Then...

He didn't notice he was surrounded by glass. Professor Rowan and the boy gazed behind them and the sound of the thud. The Luxray looked a little dazed, but otherwise unharmed from the head-on impact. They turned back to their work.

It appeared there was no way out. The Luxray shook himself to steady up, then could think of nothing better to do than lie down on the cold floor. With a look of defeat plastered on his face, he waited, not taking his eye of the wicked looking man.

'Well, there's nothing wrong with the Pokéball.' Professor Rowan said at last, taking the ball and giving it back to the impatient boy. 'Your Luxray is just a little disobedient. Would you like it back?'

The boy shook his head and made for the door. 'Nah, it doesn't fight. You keep it.' The boy walked calmly through the automatic doors, and that was the last the Luxray saw of him.

'Good.' Professor Rowan said as soon as the doors slammed shut. The Luxray snapped his attention back to the bearded-man. 'Now, as for you.'

The Professor strode towards the glass box in which the Luxray was contained. A ominous gleam in his eye put the Luxray on edge.

'I don't know why you're so special, but we'll find out won't we?' He tapped the glass gently, in a twisted half friendly, half scornful way. He knew the Luxray couldn't understand him, which made him feel all the more confident talking aloud.

'You there!' Professor Rowan suddenly demanded to a passing scientist, not taking his eyes off the Luxray. 'Take this Pokémon to the scanner. I want to know what makes this creature's brain tick.' He began pacing. 'The Pokéball obviously had no effect on it. It's like he's immune.'

The girl nodded without a word, letting the Professor continue his rant.

'If there's some gene... some immunity to the chemical, we're in trouble. It must be eliminated'

The young scientist glanced quickly at the Luxray, her dark, brown eyes meeting the Luxray's for the first time. Her aura, the Luxray was sensing, was different than any human he'd ever been near before. She was more... innocent. This wasn't enough to make him trust her. He'd been around humans enough to know that they were ALL trouble.

The girl began to unhinge the door to the glass window under the instruction of Professor Rowan. The Luxray jumped back in fright.

'No, hush. It's alright.' She said soothingly. The Luxray was still wary, pressing himself harder into the back of his cell. But there was something about the brown haired, freckled girl that he trusted. He relaxed, letting himself slide off the wall, before creeping cautiously to the small human. He put his nose out graciously: A very kind gesture in Luxray etiquette. Unexpectedly, the girl held her hand up and touched the Luxray's nose lightly.

'What's taking so long?!' Professor Rowan snapped from outside the cell, ending the peaceful atmosphere. Without any further delay, the kind-looking girl slipped the Luxray into a collar and lead, and gently guided him from the cell, and down to the end of the room.

'I want that Luxray back straight after the scan, do you understand, Belle?' Professor Rowan called from behind.

The girl nodded silently, and escorted the Luxray from the room.

The Luxray was at a loss to what he was doing, or where he was going. But he felt safe as he was walked down the hall by Belle. She kept walking faster, and faster, starting to drag the Luxray in her dash. She suddenly halted as they reached a door not to far from the end of the corridor. The Luxray had no way of knowing, but the emotionless, plastic sign pinned to the door read: "Scanner – Authorized personnel only."

Though Professor Rowan was probably imagining Belle and The Luxray to be entering the door at any moment, this was not the case. Belle walked calmly past the door, indifferent to it. She walked on just past it until they reached the end of the hall to where a dark, unlabelled door stood. Belle looked behind her with a worried expression. They were alone.

'Be careful now, Bluey...' She whispered to the Luxray, aware she might as well been talking to herself. She pressed down on the bar shaped handle, and pushed.

The door opened to a cool, night breeze. The air felt so nice on the Luxray's face after being cooped up for so long. He opened his keen eyes. Pinpricks of light could be seen among the small hills. He didn't know it, but he was looking at his first town.

The Luxray felt a small nudge on his back. He turned to see Belle pushing him out the door. He got the hint and stepped outside. But he didn't go any further.

'Go on...' She urged quietly. 'Get out of here!'

'No, I don't think I will.' He replied, guessing at what Belle had to say. 'I like you.'

Belle simply heard a series of snarls and grunts. She flinched as a sensor above them perked up momentarily from the sound. The sensor soon died down after the activity below it calmed.

'Why don't you go?!' She whispered angrily. 'Rowan told me himself the chemicals didn't affect you. For the sake of all of us... go!'

The Luxray couldn't hear her words, but he felt her rejection. 'Well, fine then!' He roared. 'Goodbye!' He was about to run off when...

The sensor flared up again at the sound of the Luxray's bellowing growl. The two of them froze, the Luxray instinctively, and Belle because she knew what was coming next.

The alarm rang. A piercing crash of artificial screaming. Belle covered her ears in pain. The Luxray, with hearing three times as sharp as a humans, fell to the ground in agony.

'Come on!' Belle yelled over the ringing, pulling herself and the Luxray from the ground. Belle ran, and the Luxray didn't need telling he needed to follow.

All lights from the building behind them flashed on, the doors smashed open to allow guards and employees to rush outside. In the blinding light, they were spotted instantly.

Professor Rowan was last to the doors. His face turned whiter than his hair as he saw the two figures running into the distance, guards with snapping Houndooms at their heels charging after them.

One of the guards bravely came up to Professor Rowan. 'Sir, we think the girl was an undercover-'

He held up a hand to silence the guard, who stepped away immediately in fear. 'I _know_ who it was.' He said through gritted teeth. 'I know.' He glared at the fleeing couple, now two specks of black over the horizon. 'And you can quote me on this, they WILL pay.'

Belle watched through the bushes as the blue-uniformed guards flew past into the town square. Sangem town, though not an ideal place to set up a hideaway, would have to do for the night.

'Everything was going fine.' She said in frustration once the guards were out of earshot. 'I'll loose my post for sure after this.' She slumped down into the dirt, head in her hands. The Luxray, who'd been silent the entire time, (knowing somehow he was to blame for all the commotion), crawled over to Belle and sat comfortably beside her.

'I don't know why you're so happy. You would've been free. I would've just told them you died in the scanning, if they asked.'

The Luxray looked up with his gleaming eyes, looking innocent.

'What are you looking at, Cobalt-Blue?'

The Luxray remained silent, while Belle continued to frown. 'Oh, I know it's not your fault. You didn't know' She sighed, letting her scowl melt away. She took off the white coat she'd been wearing and wrapped it around herself and the Luxray. 'But, really. Why are you following me? You should be desperate to be free. If the chemicals didn't affect you there's no reason for you to stay. You probably have a family somewhere who's missing you and wanting you back.'

The Luxray wished he could understand, but it wasn't worth the effort. He'd been through so much in one day. Just that morning he'd been home with his family. Perhaps it was all a dream, and he's wake up next to his wife? He put his theory into practice by lying right down as close to Belle as he could, pulling the coat off Belle and having it for himself.

Belle lay beside the Luxray in the leaves, chuckling. 'You've got a lot of nerve, Cobalt.'

But "Cobalt" was fast asleep.


End file.
